17 Sep 1998
Are you fond of gadgets? Unable to resist the delights of a toastedion, spreadsheets and to organise your personal life, then office suites provide an 'everything in one box' solution. sandwich maker, ice cream maker, bread maker or a pizza maker?
Spelled out in a list like that, it becomes obvious that if you buy them all you'll soon have a cluttered kitchen and a small bank balance. You're much better off setting yourself up with the basic kitchen necessities - an oven, a freezer and some decent cookware.
The same principle could be applied to your computer - there's a staggering array of programs that are fine as far as they go, but whose costs soon add up and whose purposes are sadly limited. Financial management and web-authoring programs may do their own jobs nicely, but they won't do any others. And most of the tasks that they do can be taken care of if you set yourself up with the basics - spreadsheet and database programs, and a word processor.
Such programs have been around for years, so the veterans among them have been honed almost to perfection. They're powerful, flexible and easy to use - and they're still getting better.
It was Microsoft that first thought of bundling the three so-called 'office' programs into a box and calling them a suite, but rivals WordPerfect - now owned by Corel - and Lotus were not far behind. In the ensuing battle for the competitive edge, the manufacturers have added in those little extras that will win customer loyalty. Presentation software, web-page authoring, easy filing, personal information management - you'll find all these in each of the weighty boxes that make up a suite.
But which do you choose when faced with such bewilderingly similar facilities?
Word processors
Surely the most heavily-used program on most computers, a word processor can turn its hand to an endless amount of tasks - newsletters, homework, party invitations, a university thesis or a book, standard letters for a huge mail shot or a personal letter to the bank or a friend. Each task has its own, specialised requirements, and if one word-processing program is to cope with such diverse needs, it has to come armed with a huge list of standard features. Part and parcel of writing a book on a word processor is the need to add appendices, footnotes and endnotes, and to manage a huge document, but a child's party invitation - a single sheet - will need facilities to add graphics and a choice of snazzy fonts and colours.
Such varied demands are, if not child's play, at least meat and drink to the three word processors that help form the office suites. There is no questioning the abilities of Word (Microsoft), WordPro (Lotus) or WordPerfect (Corel) to perform any number of tasks. WordPerfect has an impressive pedigree, and was at one time the clear leader in the business world.
Lotus' WordPro, started out life as AmiPro and had its own loyal band of followers - deservedly so, as at the time it was easier to use than many of its rivals. It also pioneered the incredibly useful facility of reading files created by other word processors. Hard as it is to believe now, Microsoft Word was not so popular in its early days - it wasn't until Windows was fully established that Word found its feet in Britain.
Looking at the current versions of the three word processors, each has its own area of strength. For ease of use, WordPerfect and Word vie for first place. WordPerfect, with its Perfect Expert, anticipates your next move, and prods you with suggestions and tips. The screen is well laid out and easy to follow, while the menus are sensible and intuitive. Word is not quite as simple to grasp, but the Office Assistant is fun to look at and reasonably helpful besides. WordPro lags behind in the ease of use stakes - you get the feeling that the menus have been designed just to differ from Word. This determination to be different is at times just awkward, and you find yourself searching the menus for commands you know must be there somewhere.
As far as features are concerned, the honours are spread somewhat differently.
Take the business of opening files created by a different word processor, which is an absolute necessity if you swap work with people using different systems. WordPerfect struggled to cope with files created with Word for Windows, although it offered this facility in its list of conversions.
It did rather better with WordPro files, although made heavy weather of it.
Word failed almost completely with our WordPerfect 8 files, while it would seem not even to have heard of WordPro. Perhaps that says something about Word - with 85 per cent of the word processor market Microsoft really doesn't have to worry. WordPro, however, opened both Word and WordPerfect files without any problems.
Where graphics are concerned, WordPerfect was out in front. Placing a graphic file anywhere in a document is beautifully easy - text wraps neatly around it, and reformats itself instantly if you drag the graphic to a new position. If you want to change the way a graphic is placed, this is also very easy if you use the Perfect Expert. Word and WordPro, while offering similar facilities, are not as easy to use - although Word does give you helpful thumbnail views of graphic files.
In the matter of templates, Word looked rather poverty-stricken - its short list of document suggestions just didn't hold up against the array of templates in WordPro, or the overwhelming selection to be found in WordPerfect.
Spreadsheets
In their earliest days, spreadsheets were simply great arrays of boxes, into which you could put numbers and formulae - and, if you were very lucky, use the figures to produce some sort of graph. Lotus 1-2-3 was the undisputed ruler of the spreadsheet kingdom, and only the brave managed to achieve mastery of the program.
These days, it's all looking a lot different. Excel has displaced 1-2-3, though not necessarily deservedly so. Spreadsheets are colourful programs, with a mass of graphics on hand to make them look pretty. If you take advantage of all the options on offer, you scarcely need know you're looking at a spreadsheet at all. As for using them, it's likewise an entirely different prospect, with wizards available to take all the hassle out of creating formulae.
For the beginner, Quattro Pro from Corel is a delight to use, featuring the Perfect Expert. Just as in WordPerfect, the Expert is always on hand to anticipate your next move, making useful suggestions and generally smoothing away difficulties. Buttons like 'Adjust to Fit', 'Add Graphics' and 'Do Simple Math' guide you through the process of creating quite complex spreadsheets. Also, there's a huge number of templates provided, catering for just about every monetary scenario you could imagine - budgeting for a loan, creating a petty cash report, to name but a few - so all you really need to do is fill in the gaps. If, on the other hand, you want to customise things to suit yourself, that's perfectly possible, too.
Similarly, 1-2-3 is packed with useful templates, and this really is the key to getting a new user comfortably started in any program. Apart from other considerations, it gives a good idea of what a program is capable of, so that you're more likely to explore the more complex capabilities for yourself at a later stage. If you want help, there are some useful features in the Quick Demos section, or you can ask the 1-2-3 expert for help on a topic of your choice.
It's Excel that offers the least help for the novice user - while templates are on offer, there are far fewer of them than there are in either Quattro Pro or 1-2-3. And the Office Assistant is much less focused than the help you get in Quattro Pro, and not so easy to follow as the help provided in 1-2-3.
Nobody stays a beginner forever, however, so it's important to look at the full range of features in each spreadsheet. And, once you take this wider view, it becomes harder to separate the contenders.
All three spreadsheets have good graphics facilities, allowing you to include pictures or charts with relative ease, although Quattro Pro is the simplest. They all have basic database facilities, so you can sort data by given factors, or filter out entries that meet certain criteria.
Macros, which are series of commands that allow tasks to be automated, feature in all spreadsheets, though here there is a slight divergence.
For once, Excel comes out on top, with macros that are easy to create and use, while 1-2-3 makes the process slightly more complex and Quattro Pro is the trickiest of all.
When it comes to advanced numerical analysis of the sort that would make a statistician's mouth water, it is hardest of all to separate the packages.
In all their menus, you'll find commands to do the most amazing things - regression, what if?, back-solving and exponential smoothing. If you know what it all means, you'll be happy with the results.
Databases
A database program is the one viewed with most suspicion by a newcomer to the world of computing. It seems that, while a word processor can easily be understood (a fancy form of typewriting) and a spreadsheet soon brings forth cries of delight (watching a total update itself automatically when you change the numbers in a sum is very pleasing), a database is seen as too complex to be relevant, or simply too dull to bother with.
Despite its poor press, though, a database can be very rewarding to use.
On a simple level, you can use it to maintain a list of your book, video or CD collections. But you can also get involved in the complex world of programming, which opens up a whole vista of data-management options.
The almost impossible task of a truly useful database program is to cater for users at both ends of the spectrum, being both accessible enough for novice users and powerful enough for advanced, professional users.
The strength of the Perfect Expert in both WordPerfect and Quattro Pro leads one to hope for similar standards of assistance in Corel's database offering: Paradox. As expected, the StartUp Expert leaps into action to help you choose what to do, and how to do it.
If you do want to be held completely by the hand, then you can be walked carefully through the creation of some example databases - there are four choices in each of the personal and business categories. These prove to be incredibly simple to use, so much so that you may wonder what all the fuss is about. Once you're ready for the harder stuff, though, the levels of help aren't so satisfactory. The database performance isn't lacking - far from it - but there's a big leap to make from beginner to expert, and more help would be useful.
Lotus' Approach takes a similarly anxious-to-help line, with the SmartMaster available to help create a database. Again, there are a few templates ready made for you, in this case even with data filled in to give you the idea of how it all works. Bizarrely enough, Approach fails by being too helpful - it is so far removed from a standard database that it gives little or no idea of what's involved in creating and using a database.
It's Microsoft Access that walks away with the glories in the database department. With fewer concessions to the complete beginner Access is still remarkably accessible - although it does demand a lot more thought from the user.
With a superb help section, this program explains the ins and outs of databases in such a way as to make them comprehensible even to a novice.
What's more, it inspires you with the confidence to progress swiftly on to programming.
It's worth noting that Microsoft Office comes in two versions - Standard and Professional. The difference is that Access is only included in the higher priced Professional version. If you need a decent database program, though, it could be a price worth paying.
Presentation graphics
When it comes to presentation graphics, we're talking strictly about producing the sort of slides that you'll find in a business presentation - there's not much scope here for home use. Business presentations are standard enough events, so it's no great surprise that all three suites offer very successful presentation packages.
As you'd expect, all the programs come with a selection of templates, so you can choose one that fits your needs and simply slot in your own words. Choose a style, a theme or a colour scheme, decide whether you're printing to paper or a slide, or whether you're doing a slide show on the computer, and you're set up and ready to go.
There's little to choose between the three programs here - Freelance has marginally more scope for home users, PowerPoint is more focused, and Corel Presentations has the edge on help - but any of these would be a good asset in making a presentation.
PIMs
Personal Information Man-agers (PIMs) are tacked on to each office suite.
Their content is fairly run-of-the-mill, including calendars, address books, appointment schedulers, and the like.
Of the three, Lotus Organiser is far and away the easiest to use, looking and working like a paper-based Filofax. Outlook, the Microsoft offering, excels at tracking the progress of a piece of work - who has seen it, where has it been sent, etc. Moreover, all other programs in the Microsoft suite use Outlook to communicate over a network, be it a company Lan, or externally over the internet, and its message component is used as the mail program in Internet Explorer 4. So, it's ubiquitous, useful and it works pretty well. By contrast, Corel's Central program is less intuitive and not so elegant to look at. However, one of its strengths is the appointment scheduler, which is both easy to manage and effective in what it does.
HOW WE TESTED
When we tested and evaluated the office suites, we looked at a range of features - first and foremost, at the key features of the various programs.
For the word processors, we considered their abilities to cope with standard text formatting, but also how they managed more advanced features such as mail merging, inserting graphics, managing lengthy documents and reading other file formats. For the spreadsheets, the chief concern was with how simple it was to create a worksheet, and what sort of help was on hand with wizards and templates. However, we also took into account the number and types of mathematical and statistical functions available, and the type and suitability of graphics capabilities. For databases, again, ease of use was the chief concern, though advanced programming facilities were also considered. And for presentation tools, we looked at the range and quality of templates on offer, together with help facilities and printing choices.
We also had to consider more nebulous qualities - look and feel, overall impression and their value for money. With a whole range of scores to consider, we weighted the most important factors more heavily, counted up, averaged out and came up with our final scores (see table on pages 28-29).
BEST BUY
Corel WordPerfect Suite
Although each of the three suites has its obvious strengths and weaknesses, you should consider what you actually need from the product. Are you going to be using the word processor, or do you require a spreadsheet? Inevitably, the safe option is to plump for the Microsoft offering, but on a price-feature level, the winner - by a nose - is WordPerfect Suite. Backed by the Corel name, with all the features you could require at a very reasonable price, it garners this month's Best Buy.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Faced with the strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages of the various suites, how do you begin to make a choice? As always, it's a case of being clear about your own priorities - which part of a suite will you use the most? Will you be working entirely on your own, or will you need to exchange files with colleagues or friends?
The safe option, inevitably, is to go for the Microsoft solution. It is fairly ubiquitous and works more than adequately. If your budget won't stretch that far, the Lotus SmartSuite looks very tempting indeed, especially if a strong database isn't too much of an issue. The extras that come with SmartSuite make it exceptionally good value, and WordPro's brilliance with handling other file types means compatibility shouldn't be a problem.
Equally, the WordPerfect Suite offers excellent programs, although they are not so coherently presented. Everything that matters is there, though - superb word processing and spreadsheet facilities, excellent website building and a very good database. And with the Corel name behind it, it's no surprise that the graphics side of things is pretty good. It's a tough choice to make, but given that the WordPerfect suite delivers the goods at a remarkably budget price, it just noses ahead.
OFFICE 97 PROFESSIONAL
Score
Price #614.52 (#375/420 street
price Professional/Standard)
Contact Microsoft
Telephone (0345) 002000
Website www.eu.microsoft.com
INSTALLATION
Automatic installation yes *****
Installation options yes *****
Uninstalling fairly efficient ****
Help on installation good *****
WORD PROCESSING
Columns & tables easy ****
Mail merge easy *****
Long documents good facilities ****
Theses, reports, etc good *****
Deal with complex pages? does the job ***
Templates satisfactory ***
Personalising templates fine ****
Supports hyperlinks yes ****
Web page authoring excellent *****
Printing facilities good ****
Read other WP formats? complicated ***
SPREADSHEET
Formula wizards good ****
Range of functions good selection *****
Database facilities excellent *****
Editing in the cells yes *****
Auto fill yes *****
Copy facilities good *****
Templates & examples not enough ***
Auditing good ****
Verification across w'sheets superb *****
Analysis good ****
Macros excellent *****
Graph & chart wizard very good *****
Graph & chart types good selection *****
Drawing/presentation fine ****
Save as web page yes *****
Read other formats good *****
DATABASE
Ready-to-use templates excellent *****
Customising templates good ****
Defining/creating tables good help available *****
Field types very good *****
Creating/editing formulae very good *****
Macros good choice, easy to use *****
Connect to external d'bases yes *****
& read/write other formats
Save as web page good ****
PERSONAL DIARY
Appointments good ****
Phone calls fine ****
Task management could be easier ***
Address book good ****
Internet/e-mail links very good *****
PRESENTATION SOFTWARE
Scenarios excellent *****
Templates lots *****
Screen shows good ****
Graphics facilities very good ****
Formatting fine ****
Multimedia facilities easy *****
Output facilities good ****
MISCELLANEOUS
Spell checker/correction yes ****
Grammar/thesaurus yes ****
Value for money Great but expensive ***
Overall A good safe bet NNNN
SMARTSUITE MILLENNIUM
Score
Price #440 approx
(street price not available)
Contact Lotus
Telephone (01784) 455445
Website www.lotus.com
INSTALLATION
Automatic installation yes *****
Installation options yes *****
Uninstalling good *****
Help on installation fine ****
WORD PROCESSING
Columns & tables easy ****
Mail merge easy *****
Long documents good facilities ****
Theses, reports, etc fine ****
Deal with complex pages? acceptable ***
Templates reasonable ****
Personalising templates satisfactory ***
Supports hyperlinks yes ****
Web page authoring excellent *****
Printing facilities good ****
Read other WP formats? superb *****
SPREADSHEET
Formula wizards very good *****
Range of functions good selection *****
Database facilities excellent *****
Editing in the cells yes *****
Auto fill yes *****
Copy facilities good *****
Templates & examples good examples ****
Auditing excellent *****
Verification across w'sheets superb *****
Analysis works well *****
Macros good macro editor ****
Graph & chart wizard good ****
Graph & chart types plenty ****
Drawing/presentation fine ****
Save as web page yes *****
Read other formats fine ****
DATABASE
Ready-to-use templates just enough ***
Customising templates adequate ***
Defining/creating tables not standard ***
Field types limited ***
Creating/editing formulae limited ***
Macros macros & scripts ***
Connect to external d'bases yes ****
& read/write other formats
Save as web page excellent *****
PERSONAL DIARY
Appointments very good *****
Phone calls good *****
Task management good ****
Address book good ****
Internet/e-mail links via Notes ***
PRESENTATION SOFTWARE
Scenarios excellent *****
Templates lots *****
Screen shows good ****
Graphics facilities excellent *****
Formatting fine ****
Multimedia facilities easy *****
*utput facilities good ****
MISCELLANEOUS
Spell checker/correction yes ****
Grammar/thesaurus yes ****
Value for money Good value ****
Overall More than adequate NNNN
WORDPERFECT SUITE 8
Score
Price #360.73
(street price #200)
Contact Corel
Telephone (0800) 581028
Website www.corel.com
INSTALLATION
Automatic installation yes *****
Installation options yes *****
Uninstalling fairly efficient ****
Help on installation fine ****
WORD PROCESSING
Columns & tables easy and powerful *****
Mail merge easy and powerful *****
Long documents excellent facilities *****
Theses, reports, etc excellent *****
Deal with complex pages? good ****
Templates good *****
Personalising templates good ****
Supports hyperlinks yes ****
Web page authoring good ****
Printing facilities good ****
Read other WP formats? some problems ***
SPREADSHEET
Formula wizards could be easier ****
Range of functions good selection *****
Database facilities excellent *****
Editing in the cells yes *****
Auto fill yes *****
Copy facilities good *****
Templates & examples excellent range *****
Auditing excellent *****
Verification across w'sheets superb *****
Analysis wide range of functions *****
Macros a bit complicated ****
Graph & chart wizard very easy *****
Graph & chart types good selection *****
Drawing/presentation excellent *****
Save as web page yes *****
Read other formats good *****
DATABASE
Ready-to-use templates good ****
Customising templates a bit complicated ***
Defining/creating tables fine ****
Field types fine ****
Creating/editing formulae fine ****
Macros powerful but complicated ****
Connect to external d'bases yes *****
& read/write other formats
Save as web page fine ***
PERSONAL DIARY
Appointments good ****
Phone calls fine ****
Task management good ****
Address book good ****
Internet/e-mail links good ****
PRESENTATION SOFTWARE
Scenarios good ****
Templates lots *****
Screen shows good ****
Graphics facilities very good ****
Formatting fine ****
Multimedia facilities easy *****
Output facilities good ****
MISCELLANEOUS
Spell checker/correction yes, excellent *****
Grammar/thesaurus yes ****
Value for money Superb *****
Overall Winner by a nose NNNN
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